Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Symbols are a key component of Sophie’s World and Knox’s method of explaining philosophical theories to Sophie.

• What does Alberto Knox mean by searching for a white crow, and why is this a key characteristic of all philosophers? (topic sentence)
• Using at least three direct quotes, explore the symbolic meaning of the white crow, its origins in philosophy, and why this frame of mind is important. Note: You may need to perform some extra research to fully understand the origins of the symbol.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, theorize as to why Knox chose to introduce this concept so early in Sophie’s philosophical journey.

2. Sophie and Alberto are of vastly different ages and form an unlikely and unconventional bond.